War, it's good for nothing
by AlexisVeronica
Summary: AU. Harry and Draco are hippies, so what happens when harry finds out that he's been drafted? (Set in 1968, AU, in America)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize… That's basically all of the Harry Potter characters, and stuff like that. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I do, on the other hand, own the story line, though it is based on something that happened in history.

Description: AU. Harry is living in America, 1968. He is drafted into the army during the Vietnam War. Draco comes from a long line of wealth, but is the first to break away from the pressure of that and becomes a hippie, rebelling against his parents. Before Harry is drafted, he and Draco become good friends, as Harry is against the war as well. This follows the life of these two boys, their friends, and their adventures. So sit back and enjoy.

Chapter 1: Conscription

_"… September 22, October 4, July 31…" the man on the television read off the dates of birth as it were no big deal. There were more, but Harry wasn't paying attention. All he heard in his head was "July 31, July 31." It was like a record that was skipping, playing the same words over and over again. Silent sobbing floated through the living room as Mrs. Potter cried for her son. The boy next to Harry sat, stunned._

_"Shit Harry, what are you gonna do?"_

XOXOXOXOXO

"Well, you all have your assignments. I expect them on my desk, first thing Monday. Have a nice weekend." The professor walked out of the classroom, students filing behind, eager to enjoy the beautiful weather that they had been blessed with. One student slowly picked his head up off of the desk, running a hand through his long raven tresses. His green eyes slowly scanned the near empty lecture hall, and slowly came to rest on his notebook, the paper devoid of writing, but ornamented with a decent sized puddle of drool. Harry Potter rolled his eyes and pulled a face. "Oh, gross." He slowly pulled himself to his feet and wiped the paper off with his sleeve. Quickly, he scanned the room for any sign of life, just so he could mooch the notes off of some unsuspecting stranger, and so he could collect that weekend's assignment.

He spotted a boy in the back, still sitting at one of the desks, eyes locked on a book and holding a cigarette.

"Hey, uh, excuse me," Harry said, wandering over to the guy. "Sorry to bother you, but I sort of fell asleep… I was hoping that you could tell me what our assignment was. The boy's grey eyes flicked upwards, giving Harry the once over.

Slowly, he grinned and answered, "It was to read chapters 4 through 11 in your book and write a 6 page essay on the importance of the main character. Sorry I can't help you with the notes, man, but this isn't actually one of my classes."

Harry looked up, surprised. "Well, then why the Hell did you sit through that crap?"

The boy smiled. "Draco Malfoy, nice to meet you. I figure, I'm paying for this place, so why not educate myself? Actually, I had nothing better to do, so I came in here, sat down, and answered questions, to the great confusion of the professor, I might add. I enjoy seeing other people think that they're hallucinating, or some shit like that. What's your name?"

Harry laughed at what the boy had said. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you, uh, Draco, was it?"

Draco flicked his shoulder length blonde hair out of his face and fiddled with a silver peace sign around his neck. "Yeah, it's Latin. It means 'Dragon'. I think it's a family name, or some crap like that, man." Harry watched as Draco pulled his hair out of his face again. He looked down at his brown suede Birkenstocks and than up at Draco. Draco raised one slender eyebrow.

"Come with me to a protest tonight, dude. We'll have a good time, and than I'm having a party at my place, you know, just a bunch of kids, good times, fun people. It'll be cool," Draco said. Harry was intrigued, but didn't know if it was such a good idea.

"I don't know, I should get the notes from someone and start reading…" he started, but never finished, as Draco had interrupted him.

"Don't start all that crap about school work. I know people like you… Their parents send them off to school, thinking that their children are getting better educations, when really all that's happening is they are getting brainwashed. You don't fall for that shit, man; you're here for a larger purpose. You're here to expose others to the delusional world around them, to show them that the world isn't some wonderful happy place. You're a total liberal, and a hippie if I ever saw one, and I would know, cause I am too. So, are you in or are you out?" Draco stared into Harry's eyes, but it felt more like he was looking into Harry's soul.

"Well, why the fuck not, man?" Harry said aloud, and Draco nodded, heading out the door, Harry close behind.

Harry ran to catch up with Draco, since Draco's strides were longer than his. "Hey, Draco, where are we going?" he called out.

Draco turned around to see the other boy lagging behind. He slowed his pace somewhat before answering. "We're going to my place to get ready for the protest. You know that recruiting office down town?"

Harry nodded his head.

"Yeah, well, we're having a sit-in, sort of a civil disobedience kind of deal. Nothing big, just about 70 people or so, and it's peaceful, so hopefully no one will get arrested. I have some poster board at my place, so you can make signs or whatever you want. A few other people will be meeting us there."

The boys walked around the corner in amiable silence, and walked until they were in a nice looking neighborhood that was off campus, but not too far away from the facilities of the University. Draco walked over to a beige house and started to go up the steps.

"Do you live with other people?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head. "No, it's just me in here. My parents are pretty well off, but for all intents and purposes, dead to me. They paid for the house, and when they found out I was a 'flower child' as my father so eloquently put it, they refused to see me. I still get money from them though, and I have a well paying job working for a family friend, so I have enough to live comfortably." He pulled open the door and was met with a chorus of greetings from friends that were already there. Draco turned to Harry, saying, "My home is always open to my friends, so any time you want to come over, be my guest.

Harry frowned a bit. "That's awfully trusting of you. Don't you ever worry about some wacko ready to jump you, or anything like that?"

Draco shrugged, shaking his head. "Why should I worry? If it's my time to go, man, than it's my time to go. I'll just leave all that in God's hands."

Harry looked at Draco. The boy was already involved helping a young woman carry a bunch of daisies to the kitchen. Draco paused for a second, tying a leather band around his head, and than continued helping the girl.

"Oh. Harry, I almost forgot. This is Astrid, a very good friend of mine. We've known each other since we were little. For the past few weeks, she's been staying with me, so I guess you could say that I do live with someone else."

Astrid turned around and flashed a peace sign in Harry's direction, smiling at him. Harry returned the sign and Astrid continued with her flowers. Soon after, Draco came out from the kitchen, intent on showing Harry around.

"Um, Draco? I hope you don't mind me asking this, but, um, is Astrid staying with you because her parents kicked her out?" Harry whispered.

Draco nodded as he showed Harry into the living room, which was already occupied with a mass of people decorating signs and painting each others faces. "Yes, she is. He parents went wild when they found out Astrid was pregnant, so I offered her my place. I told her that she could stay with me and that I would help take care of the baby when the time comes."

Harry smiled. "That's really nice of you, man."

"Thanks. I do what I can to help out my brethren. Anyway, here's the upstairs, Astrid's room, my room, another room for whatever, and the bathroom. You want a drink or something?" asked Draco, leading Harry back down the stairs and toward the kitchen. "You want a Coke, or a beer?

Harry thought for a moment. "Uh, I'll have a beer, that would be great." He watched as Draco went digging into the fridge, and came out again, pulling out two beers. He handed one to Harry.

"I'd better go round up the troops," muttered Draco as he opened his beer. "Stay here with Astrid, Harry. You two get to know each other. I'll be right back." The blonde walked out of the kitchen, his bell bottoms dragging softly on the floor.

Harry turned to Astrid. "So, how long have you known Draco?" he asked.

Astrid smiled and looked up from the flowers she was getting ready for the protest. "Oh, we've known each other for about twelve years. He was my first boyfriend, my first kiss. Well, he was pretty much my first everything. We broke up, but remained really great friends, and now he's helping me out in my time of need." Astrid smiled again and put a daisy behind Harry's ear. Just than, Draco came back in.

"Ready, Harry?" he questioned. Harry nodded, looking at Astrid. Draco smiled. "Good. Are the flowers ready Astrid?"

"Yeah, there's about two for everyone. Have fun babe, don't get arrested or hurt. You too Harry, I want to see you back here safe," Astrid grinned and kissed both Harry and Draco on the cheek.

"Don't worry Astrid, we'll be fine. Take care of the house for me. Lock the doors tonight, I don't want you here by yourself with the doors unlocked. We have to keep you and the baby safe," Draco warned.

"Cool it Draco, I'll be fine. Go. I think that the crowd outside is getting restless."

Draco and Harry walked outside, after Astrid had yelled good-bye and given them a peace sign.

The protesters walked down the main street of the town, yelling out things like, "Hell no, we won't go!" and "We're not against the soldiers, we're against the war." Harry and Draco walked side by side, until the group finally arrived in front of the Army recruiting offices.

Draco handed a daisy to a girl walking by. "Peace," he told her, flashing a peace sign with his hand. She slowly smiled and put the daisy in her hair, and joined the rest of the crowd outside. As Harry handed out his flowers, and sang songs with the others, he heard thunder in the distance. Slowly, the sky opened up and it began to rain on the protesters.

Harry was just brushing some hair out of his face when he saw Draco spinning slowly in circles, arms out and face towards the sky. Draco's flaxen hair was stringy and sticking to his peasant shirt and pale skin. He threw his head back and laughed as he jumped in a puddle.

"Come on Harry! Join me!" Draco cried out, laughing.

Harry smiled, and for once, let go of all inhibition, and every sense of decency that his parents had taught him. He opened his arms and spun around, laughing as he joined Draco in his assault against the rain puddles. He had never felt so free.

XOXOXOXOXO

Author's note: Okay, I got this idea after righting a history assignment. Fierst, I'd like to clarify a few things. One: Most of the chapter titles will just be words that were important during the 60's. Not all of them will have something to do with the content of the chapter. Two: Conscription, for those of you who don't know, is just a fancy word for the draft. Three: I will be doing historical research for this story, so the chapters might not be updated extremely fast. Four: This is AU, so Harry's parents will be alive, they do live in America, and other stuff like that. And finally Five: Please review. I would love it if you do, but if you don't like this, please don't flame me. I'm not sure if this will be slash, and I think it would be better if it wasn't, but it might come to that eventually. Thank you!

Dreamer110


	2. Let's Listen to Dylan

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize… That's basically all of the Harry Potter characters, and stuff like that. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I do, on the other hand, own the story line, though it is based on something that happened in history.

Description: AU. Harry is living in America, 1968. He is drafted into the army during the Vietnam War. Draco comes from a long line of wealth, but is the first to break away from the pressure of that and becomes a hippie, rebelling against his parents. Before Harry is drafted, he and Draco become good friends, as Harry is against the war as well. This follows the life of these two boys, their friends, and their adventures. So sit back and enjoy.

Chapter 2: Let's listen to Dylan

_Harry was just brushing some hair out of his face when he saw Draco spinning slowly in circles, arms out and face towards the sky. Draco's flaxen hair was stringy and sticking to his peasant shirt and pale skin. He threw his head back and laughed as he jumped in a puddle._

_"Come on Harry! Join me!" Draco cried out, laughing._

_Harry smiled, and for once, let go of all inhibition, and every sense of decency that his parents had taught him. He opened his arms and spun around, laughing as he joined Draco in his assault against the rain puddles. He had never felt so free._

XOXOXOXOXO

Draco and Harry were walking along the streets, Draco still jumping in puddles that had appeared on the sides of the road. The sit-in had been a success. The police had come and broken the group up, but no one had gotten hurt. Draco and Harry had been taken down to the station, but Draco, in a fit of outrageous passion, had set the officers straight with his knowledge of the law and all of its loopholes. The police couldn't, under law, arrest the two for anything. Instead, Draco and Harry were let off with warnings and no police record. Harry had been stunned, to say the least, about Draco's knowledge of the law, but he waited until they had been let go to ask.

"Draco, where did you learn all of that legal crap? I'd have never been able to spout off anything like that… All the stuff about sections and statutes and laws, that was amazing," Harry said, while the blonde hummed a Bob Dylan song.

"Ugh, all that shit I learned from my father. It's probably the only useful thing that I was ever taught by him." He stopped to look at his watch for a moment. "Shit. It's later than I realized. Come on, let's get home before all the kids show up; I don't want to leave Astrid all alone with a house full of pot smoking hippies." As Draco started off at a jog, Harry laughed at his comment and followed him close behind.

About ten minutes later, the two arrived back at Draco's house, and Astrid was waiting for them at the door. As soon as the girl saw the boys come jogging down the walkway, she ran out to meet them.

"Are you two alright? I heard that you got dragged down to the station. I also heard the sit-in was a huge success. You guys persuaded people off of the streets to join you," said Astrid, hugging the two and giving Draco a kiss.

Draco smiled a little lopsided grin. "We're fine Astrid. I did my legal thing and they let us off of the hook. No one showed up yet, did they?"

Astrid smiled and shook her head. "No one showed up yet, we still have time. How many people are you expecting?"

"I don't know… Maybe 30 or 40? In any case, Harry, you're staying, right? I can spare a room if you want."

Harry looked from Astrid's friendly face to Draco's, which was calm and collected, yet excited at the same time. Both of them seemed so familiar to him, like old friends that he had known forever. It was like he was finally home, somewhere that he fit in, instead of with his conservative family. "Yeah, I'll stay," he told them.

Astrid smiled and Draco said, "Sweet. Come on and help me start cooking, I've got burgers and dogs inside."

"Draco, I already started to cook, you two don't…" Astrid started to say, but the grey eyed boy cut her off.

"Astrid, I can finish. Why don't you go sit down for a little bit? I know for a fact that you've been on your feet all day. Harry can keep you company. That cool Harry? You two can listen to some records… I think there's some Dylan records in there, along with others, of course." That being said, Draco turned and walked into the house, heading for the kitchen to finish the food.

Harry turned to look at Astrid. "Well, it's just you and me again. Let's go listen to some music." He turned and walked into the house, Astrid following close behind. As Astrid sat down, Harry went over to pick out a record to put on. Draco's suggestion of Bob Dylan filled his mind, so he put on a Dylan record and sat down.

"Astrid, what do Draco's parents do? I mean, well, he seems so well bred, but it's like he hates his family and totally rebelled against them, in every aspect of his life."

Astrid looked Harry over carefully before replying. "Draco and his family never really got along. From the time when he was a young child he rebelled against his parents wishes. He was nothing like the rest of his stuck-up snobby family. I remember the first day we met. It was in a park and I had fallen off the swings and hit my head. Draco came running over to see if I was okay, but his parents, who were the only adults near us, could have cared less. From then on, Draco's always taken care of me, from elementary school, then when we went out, and even after we broke up. He inherited his father's intelligence and good looks, but that's all he inherited; the rest is pure Draco."

Harry absorbed this information as the record switched to Knockin' On Heaven's Door. He watched a few kids walk past the doorway to get to the backyard. He was startled for a moment, than realized that Draco had left his door open for the party goers. The black haired boy stood up and pulled the hair out of his face. "I guess we should see how Draco's coming along with the food." He helped Astrid up and the two set off towards the kitchen.

They saw a flash of blonde hair go into the fridge and come up again, with three bottles of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Draco smiled and said, "Just in time you two, the party's just started."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

A few hours later, Astrid had retired for the night and most of the crowd had dispersed from the backyard, going home to their own beds. Most of the kids that had showed up had classes tomorrow, and though they didn't want to attend, they weren't about to throw away their parents money. Draco, Harry, and a few others were still awake, and were talking quietly. A few of the kids were smoking pot, Harry included, but Draco stuck to his cigarettes.

"Draco, man, why don't you join us?" asked a boy. Draco wasn't sure if his name was Bill or Brian, so he just replied with a shake of his head.

Harry saw this and laughed. "Ever smoked before?" he whispered to the other boy.

Draco looked at Harry and said, "Yes, I have, but I stopped when Astrid moved in with me. I want to be alert if anything happens to her. She's one of the most important people in my life."

Harry looked down at his hand and sobered up instantly at the thought of Astrid getting hurt. Quickly, he put out his joint and stood up to go check on her. Walking towards the house, Harry took each step slowly and deliberately, and when he reached the door, he quickly opened it and stepped inside.

While Harry was doing this, Draco took the time to look carefully at the boy. His features were very strong and prominent, but it was his eyes that captured Draco the most. His emerald eyes held laughter, hope, and at the very back, fear. Draco stood up swiftly and followed Harry into his home.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Harry stood in the middle of Astrid's doorway, watching her sleep peacefully. Her long brown hair was spread out on her pillow, framing her face.

"I won't let anything happen to you and neither will Draco. I already lost one important girl in my life and I won't loose another, I promise you that," he whispered to Astrid's sleeping form.

While Harry was saying this, Draco watched from the top of the stairs, his left foot poised to take him towards the other boy. Harry slowly turned around and wiped the tears from his eyes. He didn't seem surprised to see the blonde boy standing on the stairs. Instead he asked, "How long have you been there and how much have you heard?"

Draco slowly gave Harry a small smile. "I've been standing here long enough to hear you make that promise to Astrid. What happened to make you so scared for her?"

Harry just looked pointedly out of the window that was above Draco's door. "When I was 12, I lost my little sister. We were swimming in the lake and her foot got caught in something and she got pulled under. I swam to her as hard as I could, but when I got there, she had already been under for awhile. I dove in, searching for her, hoping that she was alive, but when I pulled her out, she wasn't breathing. Since I couldn't save her, I'll just have to protect Astrid instead."

While Harry was saying this, tears slowly leaked out onto his face. Draco moved from his spot on the top stair and went to put his arm around Harry. "Come on Harry, you can stay here tonight. Let's get something to drink."

Harry nodded and the two went downstairs to the kitchen, all the while with Draco supporting Harry.

A.N. Just a little past to the characters… Don't own Bob Dylan or any of his songs.


End file.
